Gemini (30 page)

He jumped up off the couch and kicked into the air.

Rainah got a sly grin on her face, appearing quite pleased with her new tactical assignment. No better time to burst their freedom bubble than now.

"The rest of you. Meet us at the sanctuary. We're getting this done. Today."

I turned, whipped my hair around, and headed out the door.

Their mumblings pierced the air behind me. Apparently they recognized the shift in power as well, because they followed quickly behind, never questioning.

This new badass Zoe streak was growing on me. I liked her.

A lot.

~

The training gym was dark when I walked in. I told them I needed time to warm up, but really, I just needed time alone.

I set down my keys and turned on the lights. The fluorescent bulbs lit up, one by one, across the ceiling, and the once vacant space came to life.

I wandered the gym, and approached a row of bags lining the plastered white walls. Holding my iPod, I scrolled through my playlists, looking for something to get my adrenaline flowing, then blankly stared at a bag in front of me.

Cade.
How will I pull this off alone?

My body felt weird, and my brain was spinning as I wrapped up my fists, distracted by my upcoming rescue mission.

Okay, Zoe. Time to focus.

I shook out my arms. Tilted my head back and forth to stretch, then hopped back and forth between my feet to warm up.
Focus.
I stood in front of the bag, pushing my fist forward. I brushed my fingertips against the worn leather, running them down and back up.

The bag was hard and cold.

I pulled my fist back and pushed the bag out.

Lunged forward.

Something stirred within me. Anger. Fear. Tremors pulsed through my limbs, from my fingers and through my feet that assaulted the leather bag. My heart thumped in my chest, racing faster, as the heat in me rose and sweat pooled on my forehead.

Left hook. Right. Kicked with my right foot. Swung it around, then my left hand pulled the bag back in front of me.

This felt so good, getting out the pent-up energy.

I pictured Lilith—her dark skin, the occasional blood-red circles that encased her brown irises, the black hair that wrapped around her waist. I envisioned her face while I hauled into the bag, one punch and kick following another.

Something brushed against my shoulder.

I did a one-eighty and punched someone right in the face.

Eli fell to the floor.

Whipping around and jumping back to his feet, he crouched in a fighting stance in front of me, but I didn't give him a chance to rebound.

My fist clenched. I pulled my shoulder back and clocked him under his jaw. Felt it pop beneath my fingers.

Eli lunged while I dodged to the right.

He missed and fell forward, caught himself with his hands, then hopped back up.

I sprang from one foot to the other and narrowed my gaze, waiting for his next move.

Swiftly, he made another attempt and charged forward.

Too slow.
I whipped my newly agile body around, kicking out my left foot, and knocked him to the ground. I planted my feet and crouched in front of him, narrowing my gaze.

The corners of his lips turned down, and wrinkles spread across his forehead. His aura dimmed.

The regretful burden he carried weighed me down like it did him. I pressed my lips together and puffed out my cheeks as I blew out a breath. I rose to my feet and crossed my arms over my chest.

Eli’s shoulders slumped. He stared up at me, his feet spread apart and palms pressed to the floor in front of him.

I tilted my head to the right and rolled my eyes, then reached out my hand to help him up.

A faint smile crossed his lips. “I'm sorry,” he mouthed.

I nodded and blinked, then pulled him to his feet.

And that was it.

Applause broke out behind us.

I rotated on my toes. Five Eternals, an Angel and a human stared, varied expressions shot back. I took a bow and turned off my iPod.

Micah came bounding over. "Hot damn, you're my hero. Where did that come from?"

I shrugged. I had no idea.

Raz strolled over and slapped Eli on the back. "That was entertaining." He turned to me. "I think you're ready to get your Gemini. And we can’t afford to waste any time. We know you can fight, now it's time for the fun part.” He rubbed his palms together. “Weapons."

Julian strolled in carrying a gleaming silver box in his hands with the Genesis symbol, the same as our marks, etched into it.

I gazed at my wrist, at the outline of the once dormant symbol that was now fully ignited and pulsing.

Everyone sat around the dark mahogany table in the corner of the training room.

Julian set the box down.

Raz pulled out a key and opened the silver container like Pandora's box. He tilted up the lid, and a shining light beamed out from within.

"Let's see what kind of goodies the Elder Council has prepared for us." Raz beamed like a kid at Toys R Us.

Boys and their toys.

Micah was itching to get to whatever was inside there, but I’d already felt the wrath of one of those things. I wasn't sure I was ready to wield one.

Raz pulled out five weapons and laid each on the table. One by one, Raz spread them apart, lining them alongside each other. Each similar to the next—gleaming silver, about the length of my forearm, but with different handles and some with different edges.

I scanned over all of them, curious why there were five.

Julian stood aside, bouncing off the walls.

The first dagger Raz picked up had serrated edges. It lit up in his hand with a red tint. At the same time, Remie’s aura began to pulse and grow around him. His light was crimson, nearly indigo.

Phoebe stood beside Remie, and his light passed to her then lit up her skin. In an instant, her eyes sparkled and subtle purple wisps swirled in them.

What the hell?

Something wasn’t right. Their colors merged and sparkled, twinkling like stars. Definitely not the same light when I matched them before. This time, it was—powerful.

An invisible wind whipped through the room, and the forceful push nearly knocked me down. Eli grabbed my wrist and steadied me.

Raz pursed his lips and closed his eyes for a moment, then returned to dagger duty.

He stared at me, and I nodded toward Remie.

"Remie, this belongs to you."

Staring at the dagger, Remie moved around the table beside Raz.

"Hold out your hand." Raz set the dagger in Remie's hands, and the light from earlier seeped into his skin, then rose up and painted a red shadow around him. This time, everyone saw his color.

The dagger began to cast a faint glow of it's own, and the other Firstborns gasped.

Remie closed his hand around the weapon, the light in his palm now bled down throughout his arm, up to his shoulders and through the rest of his body. A vibrating light moved through his veins. Once he opened his palm, the lights drifted away.

The dagger chose him.

"It's warm." Remie stared at the shiny weapon in his hand, no longer silver but having the same color that glowed from his aura. It was dark obsidian with a red cast.

The same thing happened with Micah.

When we got to Rainah, her dagger was the same color as Julian’s aura. Raz placed the weapon in her hand, and a bright, turquoise tint lifted from her. At the same time, the weapon's aura blended with hers.

I stared at Julian as the soft glow of his own light rose around him. My gaze shifted to Julian's side. The dagger strapped to his leg began to flicker. He reached down and grabbed at it. I assume it was warming his leg. He scrunched up his nose and sucked in his cheeks.

I held back a giggle.

Julian squinted and glared at me.
“What are you thinking?”
he mouthed, although the words echoed in my head.

I wiggled my eyebrows and shot him an implied grin. I nodded across the room.

His gaze followed mine as it settled on Rainah, then fired back to me, his eyes wide. Jaw to the floor.
“No way!”

I nodded.
“Yes way.”

He got the cockiest grin on his face, crossed his arms, and puffed out his chest like a penguin in heat.

“
Oh yeah.”
He grinned.
“You so rock.”

“I know. You can thank me later.”

Three daggers gone, and two remained.

Raz stopped the ceremony there.

"Hey, doesn't Zoe get one?" Micah jumped in. “I wanted to see her color."

Raz laughed and slapped Micah on the shoulder. "Zoe will get her weapon. But you’ll never see her color. At least not her true color, only Cade can see it."

Micah frowned, crushed, like he wasn't part of the club any longer.

"It's okay, Micah.” Eli patted his shoulder.

“Why don't you all go with Julian to the kitchen and get some lunch? You need to be fueled for round two of training this afternoon," Raz said.

The room emptied, leaving me with Raz and Eli.

Raz sighed, sat in a chair at the table, and his shoulders slumped. "Have a seat, Zoe."

I sat next to him, and Eli plopped in the chair beside me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about right now,” Raz said. “We need you focused and ready.”

"Okay, so what's next?"

"We prepare you for battle," Raz said.

"Aren’t we already doing that?"

Eli sighed and shook his head.

"No, Zoe. We've only just begun."

Zoe

"In order to reach Cade, we're going to have to use the astral plane," Eli explained.

I had no idea what he was talking about. "I guess that's not the same as a portal?"

"No," Eli laughed. "Not hardly. You'll use a power called soul projection. It's when your physical body remains in one place while your Genesis soul is in another—the astral plane."

"When you were with Gabrielle?" Raz interrupted. "She held your hands and had you think of Cade. Then you were together in Aravot."

Memories of meeting with Cade came rushing back. His beautiful face, his smile. His love.

Eli grinned. "I was there with you. In a matter of speaking."

"What? How?"

"In order to perform an astral shift, you'll need to tap into your origin. Your inner soul. We—" he pointed between us, "are the only Genesis besides the Archangels who have this gift. We can move beyond planes in a way no one else can."

"How does that work?" I recalled being with Gabrielle in Aravot, feeling myself slipping away while she held me in place.

"It’s kind of like dreaming. Your physical body is in one place, like lying in bed at night, but your spiritual body, or your soul, is in another. We can materialize in a way nobody else can—almost like time travel, but in real time. And if you can physically materialize, Cade can travel with you because he's your Twin Soul, and he's part of you. Then he can travel back with you, returning here physically to our realm.

"I don't know how I came to possess this ability, but I do. And so do you," Eli said. "It's the reason why you've had such vivid dreams all your life. They weren't dreams at all, but you were moving through astral planes."

My entire life, I barely slept peacefully. I’d close my eyes and dream. Like I was there, and I’d wake to remember everything. Sometimes even strange things happened, like I’d brought back things from my dreams.
Weird.
But cool.

"Okay, how do I do this?"

"It takes practice and focus," Eli said. "Doing it subconsciously is surprisingly easier than doing it purposefully. You close your eyes and visualize where it is you want to go. It's your mental abilities that lead you and give you strength. At first, you'll see it in your head but after a while, your physical body will transcend planes, both physical and astral, by using your mind."

“Wait. So It’s not just my soul then, but my body too?”

“Yeah. That’s how we’ll get him back. You’ll begin in an astral shift, finding Cade though your soul, then once you connect with him, your body merges with your soul, and you shift planes.”

I sucked in a breath. This may be the only way to bring Cade home, and I had no idea how. Doubt crashed down on me, settling straight into my chest.

"It's an amazing gift. I don't do it very often though because it takes quite a bit out of me. Like in your dreams, after the vivid ones, you’re wiped." Eli chuckled. "Using your Genesis soul is more difficult than accessing physical power. It isn't regenerated as fast. And you run the risk of becoming stuck wherever you project yourself to if you aren't careful."

“Even if I manage to get myself to Cade, I may not be able to get us back out?"

"Yeah—that's a problem," he said. "If your soul and body don’t reconnect within a certain amount of time before you materialize, your soul
can
become trapped. It's tricky. Technically, you’re there, body and soul, but for some reason, things shut down and then you can’t create a portal out."

The idea of being stuck in the dark realm sent a cold chill down my spine. But there was no other way. I had to push through my fears.

“Okay. Once I get there—" I took a breath. "How do I get Cade out?"

"He taps into your power. Like borrowing it. Same way you borrowed Gabrielle’s during the Intention Ceremony and Cade borrowed mine. But there's another problem.”

Not what I wanted to hear. Just listening to Eli made me realize this was going to be hard enough.

“Cade can’t tap into your power until you two physically merge. You need to be bonded in order for it to happen, so we may need to find a way to break the barrier Lilith has in order to get you both back. We can all jump a bridge, but only you and I can soul project to get him out if we can't break through the enchantment. And it's a strong one. I barely found him. Of course, I have him on my GPS now, so I can get back to him." He laughed.

"GPS?"

"Yes, it's a sensory thing. I call it GPS. The soul knows once it's connected. Like having our memories hidden and later returned. Like déjà vu. We’re hard-wired. Our souls just know.”